July 30, 2021 - Acts 4: 20 - 28
Mission’s work demands persistence and perseverance for it to be successful. Our youth have been involved in missions work and have sent back pictures and reports that speak of the joy and excitement they have experienced. The week is about complete, and I am sure there are some tired young people as well as leaders! The objective is to finish well!
Paul knew full well the rigors of missionary work as he completes the first journey to the region of Asia Minor. He had traveled with his team by boat and foot across the Mediterranean and lower areas of modern Turkey preaching the gospel and establishing churches in at least five different cities (Paphos, Antioch, Iconium, Derbe, and Perga). They had endured cold, heat, misunderstandings, rejection and attempts on their lives. They also enjoyed the satisfaction of leading individuals to the Lord and watching them grow in grace and knowledge of their Savior Jesus Christ.
As Paul and the mission team turns to go back to Antioch, they return to each of the congregations that had been founded to encourage and strengthen them in their faith. They spoke, exhorted and prayed for the new churches, established leaders and committed each body to the Lord’s oversight. After an extended period of between two and seven years, they returned to their sending church (Antioch) to report all that had occurred to them and the people they had encountered. It must have been a time of praise and worship as Paul and Barnabas told the amazing stories of their journeys and God’s open door of faith to the Gentiles (v.27).
Working for the Lord is truly a calling and one that is filled with both obstacles and opportunities. The individuals who experience this invitation of the Lord to do His work will endure both the extreme highs of exhilarating victories as God works through your efforts and the devastating lows of seeming failures and rejection. Pray for Sam, Ellie, Mark, Lara and Sara as they lead the teen trip home. They will leave Maryland tomorrow morning and give a report to the church on August 8th during the morning service.